TflE  INAUGURATION 


REV.  JOHN  MACLEAX,  I).  I)., 


TENTH  ri{ES[I)Ex\'T 


OF    THE 


COLLEGE  OE  NEW  JERSEY, 


WEDNESDAY,  JUNE  28,  1854. 


Princeton,  JT.  i., 

PRINTED    BV    JOUN    T.    ROBINSON. 

1854. 


TMK  INAUGUIUTION 


REV.  JOHN  MACLllAN,  I).  \\, 


TENTH  TKESIDEAT 


COLLEGE  or  NEW  JERSEY, 


WEDNESDAY,  JUNE  28,  1854, 


JJnmcton,  N.  i., 

PRINTED    BV    JOHN    T.    ROBINSON. 

1854. 


TNAUCtDIIATION. 


The  inauguration  of  the  Eev.  Dr.  Maclrax,  as 
President  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey,  occurred  on 
the  afternoon  of  Wednesday,  the  28th  of  June,  1854, 
the  day  of  the  Annual  Commencement.  The  cere- 
monies on  this  occasion  took  place,  in  the  presence 
of  the  Trustees  and  Faculty,  and  of  a  large  assembly 
of  the  graduates  and  other  friends  of  the  College. 
Rev.  Dr.  John  McDowell,  senior  Trustee  of  the  Col- 
lege, began  the  exercises  with  the  following  re- 
marks : 

"  We  are  convened  to  inaugurate  a  Presdent  of  this 
venerable  and  important  College.  The  Trustees  have 
made  it  my  duty  to  introduce  the  services,  on  this 
occasion,  with  a  brief  narrative  of  the  events  which 
have  issued  in  the  interesting  exercises,  in  which  we 
are  now  to  be  engaged.  After  the  Commencement, 
a  year  since,  was  finished,  and  the  Board  of  Trustees 
had  returned  to  their  place  of  meeting,  in  the  College 
Library,  the  Rev.  Dr.  James  Carnahan,  unexpected- 
ly, presented  to  the  Trustees,  a  written  communica- 
tion, resigning  his  office  of  President  of  the  College  ; 
and  giving  as  his  reasons,  his  advanced  age,  and  in- 
creasing infirmities.  The  session  of  the  Trustees 
was  then  about  closing,  and  they  had   not  time   to 


deliberate  on  the  elioice  of  a  successor.  They  felt 
reluctantly  constrained  to  accept  the  resignation  ; 
which  they  did,  passing  resolutions  highly  approving 
of  the  administration  of  Dr.  Carnahan  ;  and  at  the 
same  time  requested  liim  to  continue  to  hold  the 
office,  and  perform  its  duties,  until  a  successor  was 
chosen.  To  this  request  Dr.  Carnahan  kindly  con- 
sented. 

'^  At  the  stated  semi-annual  meeting  of  the  Board 
in  December  last,  they  proceeded  to  the  election  of 
a  President,  when  the  Rev.  Dr.  John  Maclean,  who 
had,  almost  from  the  time  of  his  graduation,  been  a 
valuable  officer  of  the  Institution,  in  several  depart- 
ments of  instruction,  and  for  many  years  its  Vice 
President,  was  chosen.  Dr.  Carnahan  was  then  re- 
quested to  continue  to  hold  the  office  of  President, 
and  perform  its  duties,  until  the  close  of  the  com- 
mencement, which  has  taken  place  this  day.  To 
this  he  consented. 

"  Dr.  Carnahan  has  occupied  the  presidential  chair 
of  this  College,  longer  than  any  of  his  distinguished 
predecessors,  from  the  foundation  of  the  College. 
He  has  now  been  President  thlrty-onG  years,  and  his 
administration  has  not  only  been  the  longest,  but 
also  very  successful.  The  College  has  grown,  and 
prospered  under  it.  The  number  of  students,  when 
he  commenced  his  administration,  was  about  one 
hiindrtil  and  twtnlf/.  Hie  whole  number  for  the 
year  now  closiii;^    is  tirt,    Junnlnil  and  JiOl/-xir.      At 


the  meeting  of  tliu  Trustees  iii  December  last,  a 
committee  was  appointed  to  make  arrangements  for 
the  inauguration  of  Dr.  Maclean.  Agreeably  to  the 
report  of  tliat  committee,  approved  bj  the  Board, 
we  are  now  met  for  this  purpose.  The  usual  oaths 
required  to  be  taken  by  the  President,  will  now  be 
administered  by  the  Honourable  Henry  W.  Green, 
Chief  Justice  of  the  SUite  of  New  Jersey." 

The  following  oaths,  required  by  the  charter  were 
subscribed  by  the  President  elect :  and  then  admin- 
istered to  him  by  the  Chief  Justice. 

1.  "  I  do  swear,  that  I  will  support  tho  Constitution  of  the  United  vStatcs : 
BO  help  me  God." 

2.  "  I  do  sincerely  profess  and  swear,  that  I  do  and  will  }>ear  true 
faith  and  allegiance  to  the  government  esta]>li8h<'d  in  this  Stiite,  under 
the  authority  of  the  people  :  so  help  me  God." 

3.  "  I  do  solemnly  promise  and  swear,  that  i  will  faithfully,  impar- 
tially and  justly,  perform  all  the  duties  of  the  President  of  the  College 
of  New  Jersey,  according  to  the  l»est  of  my  ahilities  and  understanding: 
so  help  me  Goj)." 

A  true  copy,  E.  F.  Coolev,  Clerk. 

The  oaths  having  been  taken,  the  Chief  Justice 
handed  to  Dr.  Maclean  the  keys  of  the  College ;  and 
thus  addressed  him  : 

"  In  the  name  and  by  the  authority  of  the  Board  of 
Trustees,  I  deliver  to  you  the  keys  of  the  College  of 
New  Jersey,  hereby  declaring  that  you  are  duly  in- 
vested with  all  the  powers,  privileges  and  preroga- 
tives, and  charged  with  all  the  duties  of  the  office  of 
President  of  that  institution. 


^^  We  commit  Nassau  Hall,  its  interests  and  its  rep- 
utation to  your  guardian  care,  with  the  earnest  in- 
junction, and  in  the  confident  hope,  that  those  pow- 
ers will  be  exercised  and  those  duties  performed  by 
you  in  such  manner,  as  shall  most  eminently  conduce 
to  the  difi*usion  of  knowlege,  the  promotion  of  virtue, 
the  honour  of  our  country  and  the  glory  of  God." 

Dr.  Maclean  replied  : — Having  just  given  the  most 
solemn  pledge  which  it  is  in  my  power  to  give;  that 
I  will  faithfully  discharge  the  duties  of  my  office  :  I 
shall  only  thank  you,  for  the  very  kind  terms,  in 
which  you  have  been  pleased  to  announce  the  confi- 
dence reposed  in  me,  by  yourself  and  the  other  Trus- 
tees of  the  College. 


As  he  left  the  chair  of  the  President,  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Carnahan,  thus  addressed  his  successor  : 

Mr.  President  : — 

When  the  interests  of  an  im- 
portant public  institution  are  concerned,  private  con- 
siderations and  personal  feelings  ought  to  be  laid 
aside.  For  this  reason  I  do  not  rise  to  congratulate 
you,  as  perhaps  some  may  think  I  ought,  on  being 
placed  in  a  station  which  your  long,  faithful  and  effi- 
cient services  have  merited.  My  object  is  rather  to 
express  my  wishes  for  the  prosperity  of  the  College 
and  the  success  of  your  administration.  Sir,  the  in- 
terests of  a  sacred  institution,  which  originated  in 


the  piety  and  patriotism  of  great  and  good  men 
long  since  gone  to  their  rest  and  reward,  are  now  in 
a  great  measure  pLaced  in  your  hands.  Your  own 
experience  and  observation  have  taught  you,  that  to 
train  the  minds  and  to  form  the  intellectual  and 
moral  habits  of  youth,  wdio  are  to  be  the  future  min- 
isters of  the  Gospel,  the  Physicians,  the  Legislators, 
the  Judges,  the  Executive  Officers  of  our  State  and 
national  governments,  is  no  small  and  insignificant 
undertaking.  When  I  call  to  mind  how  much  the 
happiness  or  misery  of  parents  and  friends,  how 
much  the  success  or  failure  of  the  free  institutions 
of  our  country,  how  much,  the  purity  or  corruption 
of  our  holy  religion,  in  a  word  how  much  the  tem- 
poral and  eternal  well-being  of  thousands  yet  un- 
born depends  on  the  bias  given  to  the  minds  of 
young  men  during  their  training  in  College ;  I  am 
constrained  to  believe  that  your  office  is  one  of  im- 
mense responsibility — an  office  which  no  man  who 
looks  to  his  own  peace  and  comfort  only,  ought  to 
covet.  Its  duties  are  numerous  and  difficult — its 
cares  and  anxieties  unceasing.  And  permit  me  to 
say  that  in  your  case,  the  responsibility  is  increased 
by  the  consideration,  that  this  College  has  existed 
more  than  one  hundred  years — that  it  has  maintain- 
ed a  high  and  honourable  place  among  similar  insti- 
tutions in  our  land — that  the  sons  of  Nassau  Hall 
in  public  and  in  private  life,  have  not  been  inferior 
to  those  of  any  other  College  in  our  country.     In 


8 

view  of  these  facts,  the  thought  that  this  time  hon- 
oured and  1  may  say,  God  favoured  institution  may 
now  possibly  fail,  is  |xiinful  and  oppressive.  But  it 
cannot,  must  not  fail.  Founded  in  faith,  with  a  view 
to  promote  the  glory  of  God  and  the  best  interests  of 
men,  God  has,  in  a  remarkable  manner,  sustained  and 
prospered  this  College  in  circumstances  the  most 
trying.  And  our  prayer  and  hope  is  that  he  will 
continue  his  favour.  And  if  in  these  feeble  hands 
supported  by  yourself  and  other  able  and  honoured 
coadjutors,  the  usual  previous  number  of  students 
in  the  College,  has  been  more  than  doubled,  and  the 
graduates  of  the  last  thirty-one  years,  have  equalled 
in  number,  those  who  have  received  the  first  degree 
in  the  Arts,  under  all  my  predecessors  from  the  ori- 
gin of  the  College  to  the  time  I  came  into  office,  have 
we  not  cause  to  hope  and  believe  that  the  College  of 
New  Jersey  shall  live  and  be  a  blessing  to  our  coun- 
try and  to  the  Church  of  God  for  ages  yet  to  come  ? 
Be  assured  sir,  you  have  my  hearty  wishes  and  my 
most  fervent  prayers  for  the  prosperity  of  the  College, 
and  for  the  success  of  your  administration. 

To  this  address  Dr.  Maclean  said  in  reply : 
That  I  had  your  best  w^ishes ;  and  that  I  should 
have  your  fervent  prayers  for  my  successful  admin- 
istration of  the  affairs  of  the  College,  I  was  well 
aware.  For  this  public  expression  of  your  feelings  I 
thank  you  most  sincerely. 


DR.  MACLEAN'S 

INAUGURAL  ADDRESS. 


INAUGURAL  AWmESS. 


Honoured   Guardians   and  otiiku    fhikxds   ok  thk 
College  of  New  Jersey. 

For  more  than  thirty  jeai-s,  have  I  been  associa- 
ted with  the  venerable  man,  who  this  day  retires 
from  the  Prevsidency  of  our  College.  You  can  there- 
fore readily  conceive,  that  it  must  be  truly  gratifying 
to  me  to  know,  and  to  have  others  know,  that  my 
election  as  his  successor  has  his  hearty  approvaL 
The  assurance  that  this  is  so  encourages  me  to  hope, 
that  to  some  extent  at  least,  I  shall  be  able  to  meet 
the  reasonable  demands  of  the  friends  of  the  College ; 
and  that  I  shall  not  sully  the  fair  fame,  that  has 
hitherto  pertained  to  the  office  of  its  President.  For 
more  1  dare  not  hope  ;  nor  can  I  even  promise  as 
much  as  this  :  for  this  itself  is  no  easy  task.  Of  my 
predecessors  in  office  this  is  not  the  occasion  for  me 
to  speak  particularly.     They   were  all  men  of  note, 

and  they  all  did  good  service  to  the   cause  of  piety 

2 


and  leiirning  :  but  if  sincere  piety,  sound  learning, 
genuine  modesty,  treedoni  from  personal  ambition, 
devotion  to  the  interests  of  the  College,  faithfulness 
and  success  in  conducting  its  affairs  for  a  long  series 
of  years,  can  entitle  its  President  to  the  lasting  grati- 
tude of  all  interested  in  its  welfare ;  then  will  the 
name  of  James  Carnahan  ever  be  held  in  veneration 
by  all  the  true  sons  and  the  true  friends  of  our  be- 
loved College.  Happy  may  I  regard  myself;  if  when 
myjabours  here  are  done,  I  shall  be  able  to  retire 
from  the  duties  and  responsibilities  of  this  station, 
with  something  of  the  respect  and  honour,  which  we 
all  feel  are  justly  his  due. 

Permit  me  now  to  call  your  attention  to  the  more 
immediate  object  of  this  address,  viz  :  to  give  you, 
first,  a  brief  sketch  of  the  origin  and  design  of  this  in- 
stitution ;  and  secondly,  an  exposition  of  the  mode  in 
which  the  instruction  and  government  of  the  College 
will  be  conducted,  by  my  colleagues  and  myself! 

Our  college  is  the  offspring  of  piety,  pure  evangelical 
piety.  Its  founders  were  men  of  piety  and  friends  of 
learning.  They  regarded  the  proper  cultivation  of 
learning;  as  favourable  to  the  advancement  of  religion. 
Hence  they  sought  to  rear  an  institution,  in  which 
should  be  taught  at  one  and  the  same  time  the  les- 
sons of  revealed  truth  ;  and  the  elements  of  human 
knowledge.  They  were  Presbyterians  too  :  all  of 
them,  still  they  were  liberal  minded  men.  They 
knew  tliat  as  guardian>  of  a  College  they  owed  rer- 


tain  duties  to  the  State  as  well  as  tu  tlie  Church  ; 
and  also  duties  to  their  fellow  christians  of  other  de- 
nominations as  well  as  to  those  of  their  own.  Hence 
while  they  aimed  to  make  the  best  possible  arrange- 
ments, to  secure,  for  the  youth  of  their  own  church,  an 
education  that  would  fit  them  for  the  several  stations, 
which  they  might  Ije  called  to  (ill  in  that  church ;  they 
sought  so  to  order  the  course  of  instruction  as  to  be 
of  essential  service  to  the  youth  of  other  denomina- 
tions, without  interfering  with  the  rights  of  conscience. 
Their  aim  was  not  to  make  Presbyterians  of  others, 
nor  to  interfere  with  their  church  relations ;  but  to 
teach  all,  that  they  placed  true  piety,  or  the  fear  and 
love  of  God,  above  all  church  forms  :  and  that  Pres- 
byterianism,  as  held  by  them  at  least,  was  no  narrow- 
minded  and  bigoted  attachment  to  sect  but  an  en- 
larged and  liberal  scheme  of  doctrine  and  order ; 
which,  wdiile  it  claimed  to  be  in  accordance  with  the 
divine  mind  and  will,  led  them  to  salute  as  brethren 
in  Christ  all  who  held  the  essential  doctrines  of 
grace;  however  much  they  might  difter  from  them- 
selves in  outward  form,  and  in  minor  points  of  doc- 
trine. This  course  they  pursued,  not  from  constraint, 
nor  under  the  inHuence  of  unworthy  motives,  but 
from  conviction  and  choice.  '1  hey  had  indeed  the 
wisdom  to  perceive,  that  not  only  was  it  their  duty 
to  act  thus;  but  that  they  .-(Misultcd  best  the  in- 
terests of  their  own  branch  nftlii  Cliuivh  of  Christ, 
hy  conciliating  the  respect  and  the  esteem  of  m11  th(« 


14 

other  brandies  of  the  one  Cliurch  of  our  Lord  and 
Saviour.  At  this  they  aimed,  and  to  a  good  degree 
they  were  successful  :  for  among  the  most  devoted 
friends  of  the  College,  there  have  been  not  a  few 
who  were  members  of  churches  other  than  Presbyte- 
rian. But  let  it  be  remembered,  that  this  liberal 
and  christian  policy  was  attended  with  no  sacrifice 
of  truth  or  principle  :  it  made  no  concessions  to  reli- 
gious bigotry  on  the  one  hand  ;  or  to  indifference  and 
rationalism  on  the  other.  In  connexion  with  it  the 
doctrines  of  grace  were  plainly  and  faithfully  taught : 
and  the  simple  forms  of  our  church  order  were  strict- 
ly adhered  to,  in  all  the  religious  services  of  the  Col- 
lege :  and  while  none  were  seduced  from  tlieir  at- 
tachment to  the  forms  in  which  they  had  been  edu- 
cated at  home ;  all  were  led  to  see,  that  the  doctrines 
and  discipline  of  our  church  were  not  only  consistent 
with  vital  piety ;  but  eminently  fiivourable  to  its 
growth.  What  more  than  this  can  Presbyterian 
youth  need  to  make  them  honour  and  prefer  the 
cliurch  of  their  fathers;  the  church  in  which  from 
infancy  they  had  been  nurtured:  and  the  church 
with  which  their  earliest  and  best  feelings  were  as- 
sociated. 

On  the  other  hand,  could  such  a  training  as  this 
fail  to  make  a  favourable  impression  upon  the  minds 
of  the  youth  from  other  churches,  in  regard  to  the 
truly  catholic  spirit  of  Presbyterianism  rightly  un- 
derstood and  properly  exhibited  ?     From  actual   ex- 


15 

perieiu'u  tliey  would  know,  Mint  tlicv  were  subjected 
to  no  annoyance  on  account  of  tlirir  icligiou^  Ix.*- 
lief:  and  to  no  temptation  to  forsake  the  cJiurches 
in  wlu(;li  they  had  hrcu  hi'ouiiht  u[)  :  and  thu>  a 
spirit  of  mutual  eonfKh'ncc  uould  he  fostered  in  th(* 
minds  of  all,  U)  the  ui-eat  henefit  of  the  whole  hod  v 
of  Christ. 

But  while  the  advancement  of  reli^i(jn  was  the 
chief  aim  of  the  venerable  ibundeis  of  our  College; 
they  sought  to  effect  their  object  in  (connexion  with 
the  intellectual  training  of  the  youth,  who  from  time 
to  time  should  resort  to  this  seat  of  learning.  And 
although  the  great  incentive  to  action,  on  the  part 
of  those  who  founded  it,  was  to  furnish  the  Church 
with  a  ministry  thoroughly  trained  for  their  high 
and  holy  calling :  yet  they  never  lost  sight  of  the 
fact,  that  the  highest  interests  of  both  church  and 
civil  society  demanded  of  them,  that  they  should  ex- 
ert themselves  to  provide  for  all  classes,  within  the 
sphere  of  their  intiuence,  a  course  of  instruction,  at 
once  liberal,  enlightened,  and  religious.  In  doing 
this  they  wisely  judged,  that  those  who  were  to  be 
the  guides  of  society,  whether  in  seculai*  or  religious 
affairs,  all  needed  the  same  preparatory  training,  to 
enter  with  advantage  upon  the  study  of  their  several 
professions.  The  proper  developement  and  strength- 
ening of  the  intellectual  and  moral  powers  :  the  right 
cultivation  of  the  social  and  religious  feelings  ;  and 
the  storing  of  the  mind  with  the  elements  of  varied 


IG 

and  useful  learning,   being  alike  important  for  all 
classes  of  professional   men.     Piety   alone,   however 
pure  and  ardent,  could  not  fit  a  man  for  the  minis- 
try ;  nor  could  the  highest  intellectual  culture  qualify 
one  to  be  a  statesman,  should  he  be  wanting  in  mo- 
ral principle.     But  where  piety  and  intelligence  are 
combined  in  a  high  degree,  we  have  just  those  qual- 
ities, that  are  requisite  for  professional  eminence  in 
the  several  walks  in  life  :  and  those  institutions  of 
learning,  in  which  these  things  are  properly  cared 
for,   are  the  very  ones  which  best  meet  the  wants 
of  the  whole  community.     To  rear  such  an  institu- 
tion was  the  constant  aim  of  the  early  friends  of  our 
College  :  and  to  show  that  I  have  full  authority  for 
the  view  here  presented,  permit  me  to  call  your  at- 
tention to  certain  declarations  made  by  those,  who 
in  faith  and  prayer  laid  its  foundation.     I  do  this, 
that  all  present  may  see  their  aim,  and  that  all  may 
honour   them  for  their   enlarged,    liberal  and  truly 
christian  views.     The  present  charter  of  the  college 
was  granted  on  the  14th  of  September,  1748,  and  at 
the  first  meeting  of  the  Trustees,  held  October  13th, 
of  the  same  year,  they  voted  an  address  to  Governor 
Belcher,  to  whose  friendly  offices  they  were  indebted 
for  the  charter  :  and  in  this  address  they  say,  "  Your 
long  known  and  well  approved  friendship  for  religimi 
and  learning  left  us  no  room  to  doubt  your  doing  all 
that  lay  in  your  power  to  promote  so  valuable  a 
cause  in  these  parts  :   and  upon  this  head   our  most 


17 

raised  expectations  have  been  abundantly  answered. 
We  do  therefore  cheerfully  embrace  this  opportunity 
of  paying  our  most  sincere  and  grateful  acknowl- 
edgements to  your  Excellency,  for  granting  so  am- 
ple and  well  contrived  a  charter,  for  erecting  a 
seminary  of  learning  in  this  province,  which  has 
been  so  much  wanted  and  so  long  desired.  And 
as  it  has  pleased  your  Excellency  to  intrust  us  with 
so  important  a  charge,  it  shall  be  our  study  and  care 
to  approve  ourselves  worthy  of  the  great  confidence 
you  have  placed  in  us,  by  doing  our  utmost  to  pro- 
mote so  noble  a  design.  And  since  we  have  your 
Excellency  to  direct  and  assist  us  in  this  important 
and  difficult  undertaking  ;  we  shall  engage  in  it  with 
the  more  freedom  and  cheerfulness  :  not  doubting, 
but  ])y  the  smiles  of  heaven  under  your  protection, 
it  may  prove  a  flourishing  seminary  o^ piety  and  good 
literature,  and  continue  not  only  a  perpetual  monu- 
ment of  honour  to  your  name,  above  the  victories  and 
triumphs  of  renowned  conquerors,  l)ut  a  lasting  foun- 
dation for  the  future  prosperity  oi  church  and  state.'* 

In  this  address,  penned  by  President  Burr,  we  have 
explicitly  avowed  the  aim  of  the  first  Trustees  of  our 
College  :  viz.,  the  welfare  of  the  whole  community, 
civil  and  religious,  by  means  of  an  institution  devot- 
ed to  the  interests  of  i)iety  and  learning. 

Let  us  hear  the  response  of  the  pious  and  excellent 

Governor.     "Gentlemen,!  have  this  day  received, 

by  one  of  your  number,  the  Rev.   Mr.  Cowell,  your 

3 


18 

kind  and  handsome  address  :  for  which  I  heartily 
return  you  thanks  ;  and  shall  esteem  my  being  placed 
at  the  head  of  this  government  a  still  greater  favour 
from  God  and  the  king,  if  it  may  at  any  time  fall  in 
my  power,  as  it  is  my  inclination,  to  promote  the 
kingdom  of  the  great  Redeemer,  by  taking  the  Col- 
lege of  New  Jersey  under  my  countenance  and  pro- 
tection, as  a  seminary  of  true  religion  and  good  litera- 
ture^ 

In  his  reply  to  another  address  from  the  Trustees, 
in  which  reply  he  declined  the  honour  of  having  the 
first  and  still  the  largest  building  called  by  his  name, 
he  says,  ...  ^^  it  seemed  to  me  that  a  seminary  for 
religion  and  learning  should  be  promoted  in  this  pro- 
vince :  for  the  better  enlightening  the  minds,  and 
polishing  the  manners  of  this  and  the  neighbouring 
colonies.  .  .  .  This  important  affair,  I  have  been  during 
my  administration,  honestly  and  heartily  prosecu- 
ting, in  all  such  laudable  ways  and  measures  as  I 
have  judged  most  likely  to  efiect  w^hat  we  all  aim 
at :  which  I  hope  and  believe  is  the  advancing  the 
kingdom  and  the  interests  of  the  blessed  Jesus  and 
the  general  good  of  mankind." 

These  extracts  furnish  abundant  proof  that  Gov- 
ernor Belcher,  who  was  not  only  the  first  and  most 
efficient  patron  of  the  College,  but  also  the  President 
of  the  ]5oard  of  Trustees,  entered  heartily  into  their 
views :  and  that  the  advancement  of  religion  and 
learning  was  the  aim   of  all  concerned   in   founding 


10 

this  institution.  That,  in  seeiving  to  advance  the  in- 
terests of  their  own  brancli  of  the  Church,  by  the 
erection  of  a  seminary  of  learning,  they  were  not  un- 
mindful of  the  interests  of  other  deiioiiiinations,  ap- 
pears from  the  words  of  the  Charter;  wherein  it  is 
assigned  as  one  of  the  reasons  for  granting  that  in- 
strument :  "  that  the  petitioners  have  also  expressed 
their  earnest  desire,  that  those  of  every  religious  de- 
nomination may  have  free  and  equal  liberty  and  ad- 
vantage of  education  in  said  college,  any  diflerent 
sentiments  of  religion  notwithstanding." 

And  this  declaration  was  a  declaration  not  of  the 
trustees  merely,  but  of  all  who  petitioned  for  the 
charter,  and  no  doubt  expressed  the  sentiments  of 
the  synod  of  New  York,  which  comprised  the  Pres- 
byterian churches  not  only  in  New  York,  but  also 
most  of  those  in  New  Jersey,  and  some  in  other  states. 
Of  the  twenty-two  trustees  named  in  the  charter, 
twelve  were  ministers  of  the  gospel :  and  of  these, 
eleven  were  prominent  members  of  the  synod  of  New 
York,  and  the  twelfth  was  a  member  of  the  synod  of 
Philadelphia.  No  one  therefore  can  be  surprised  at 
hearing,  that  the  first  named  synod  regarded  this  in- 
stitution with  peculiar  favour  :  it  being  in  fact  the  con- 
tinuation of  the  one  over  which  the  pious  and  learn- 
ed Jonathan  Dickinson  presided,  and  which  was  no 
doubt  established  under  the  auspices  of  that  synod. 
That  the  members  of  the  sjaiod  heartily  approved 
of  the  views  and  aims  of  the  Trustees  of  the  College, 


20 

there  is  the  most  ample  evidence.  At  the  request 
of  the  Trustees,  they  appointed,  by  a  unanimous  vote, 
two  of  the  most  distinguished  members  of  their  body, 
to  take  a  voyage  to  Europe  to  solicit  funds  for  the 
College  :  and  also  made  provision  for  supplying  the 
pulpits  of  these  ministers  during  their  absence.  By 
hands  of  these  reverend  gentlemen,  Messrs.  Gilbert 
Tennent  and  Samuel  Davies,  the  synod  sent  an  ad- 
dress to  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Church  of  Scot- 
land, containing  an  earnest  appeal  in  behalf  of  the 
college.  After  reciting  their  utter  inability  to  meet 
the  demands  for  ministers,  to  supply  the  Presbyterian 
churches  in  connexion  with  the  synod,  in  the  states 
of  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Maryland, 
Virginia  and  Carolina,  they  say,  ''  Now  it  is  from 
the  College  of  New  Jersey  only,  that  we  can  expect 
a  remedy  for  these  inconveniences,  it  is  to  that  (col- 
lege) your  petitioners  look  for  the  increase  of  their 
numbers  ;  it  is  on  that  the  Presbyterian  churches 
through  the  six  colonies  above  mentioned  principally 
depend  for  accomplished  ministers  ;  from  that  has 
been  obtained  considerable  relief  already  :  notwith- 
standing the  many  disadvantages  that  unavoidably 
attend  its  present  infant  state.''  In  the  conclusion 
of  their  address  they  add.  ^'  Now  as  the  College  a}> 
pears  to  be  the  most  promising  expedient  to  redress 
these  grievances,  and  to  ])romote  learnltig  and  reli- 
gion in  these  provinces,  your  petitioners  do  most 
heartily  concur  with  the  trustees,  and  humbly  pray 


21 

that  an  act  may  be  passed  by  this  venerable  and 
honourable  Assembly  for  anational  eollection  in  favour 
of  said  college."  Funds  more  than  sufhcient  to  de- 
fray the  expense  of  erecting  our  largest  college  build- 
ing was  the  result  of  this  action  of  the  synod. 

Their  letter  to  the  General  Assembly  of  the  church 
of  Scotland  discloses  fully,  why  the  members  of  the 
synod  laboured  so  assiduously,  to  establish  and  to  sus- 
tain with  vigour  the  College  of  New  Jersey.  They 
regarded  it  as  the  most  effective  means  of  supplying 
their  churches  with  an  able  ministry. 

The  authorities  above  cited  are  amply  sufficient  to 
establish  the  several  positions  I  assumed  in  regard 
to  the  views  and  aims  of  those  who  founded  our 
College ;  including  the  synod  of  New  York,  the 
petitioners  for  the  charter,  the  trustees  named 
in  the  charter,  and  the  Governor,  who  granted  it,  in 
the  name  of  the  king.  Pi'ompted  by  a  strong  desire 
to  further  the  interests  of  religion,  and  more  espe- 
cially to  furnish  their  own  branch  of  the  Church 
with  an  able  and  learned  ministry  ;  they  sought  to 
lay  the  foundation  of  an  institution  of  learning,  which 
should  be  commensurate  with  the  wants  of  the  whole 
community  :  and  so  to  conduct  its  affairs,  as  to  pro- 
mote at  one  and  the  same  time  the  welfxre  of  the 
Church  and  of  the  State. 

Having  ol)tained  a  charter,  to  use  their  own  ex- 
pression, "  so  ample  and  well  contrived,"  the  trustees 
were  not  only  content,  but  perfectly  satisfied   with 


no 

its  provisions.  It  gave  them  all  they  wanted.  They 
were  left  untrammelled  by  the  State ;  and  yet  under 
its  protection.  They  enjoyed  the  confidence  and 
the  patronage  of  the  Church,  and  yet  were  perfectly 
free  to  adopt  such  measures  as  they  deemed  best 
adapted  to  secure  the  success  of  the  institution,  and 
through  it  to  advance  the  civil  and  religious  inter- 
ests of  the  country  :  and  being  wise,  active,  and  pi- 
ous men,  their  labours  were  not  in  vain.  Of  the  cor- 
rectness of  this  statement,  the  history  of  the  College 
furnishes  full  evidence.  Did  time  permit,  it  would 
give  me  pleasure  to  recite  this  testimony  at  large  ;  but 
on  this  occasion  I  must  content  myself  with  a  very 
brief  mention  of  the  more  important  facts  bearing 
upon  this  point. 

1,  A  large  number  of  the  most  useful  and  distin- 
guished ministers  of  the  gospel  in  our  own  and  in 
other  churches  have  been  educated  here.  The  whole 
number  of  clerical  graduates  is  more  than  600. 

2.  From  this  institution  have  gone  forth  numerous  ar- 
dent friends  of  sound  and  thorough  learning.  Un- 
der God,  several  of  the  most  valuable  seminaries  of 
learning  in  our  land  owe  their  existence,  in  a  great 
measure,  to  the  enlightened  views,  and  active  efforts 
of  men  educated  here  ;  and  who  sought  to  establish, 
in  diflerent  sections  of  the  country,  institutions  upon 
the  model  of  their  Alma  Mater. 

3.  Here  too  have  been  trained  in  great  numbers, 
men  who  have  adorned  tho  bar,  the  bench,  the  forum, 


the  Senate  chamber,  and  the  Executive  chair,  in  sev- 
eral of  the  states  of  the  Unic^n  :  and  others  who  have 
done  honour  to  the  highest  seats  pertaining  to  the 
national  government.  The  number  of  grachiates  who 
have  held  important  oflicial  stations  is  not  less  than 
200. 

4.  In  the  department  of  medical  science,  some  of 
the  brisrhtest  names  in  our  countrv,  are  names  of 
graduates  of  Nassau  Hall. 

5.  The  Presbyterian  church  in  this  country,  through 
her  synods  and  through  the  General  Assembly,  has 
repeatedly  expressed  her  confidence  in  the  College  ; 
and  these  church  courts  have  at  different  times  re- 
commended collections  to  be  made  in  its  behalf.  This 
peculiar  interest  in  our  college  continued,  until  hap- 
pily other  colleges  arose  to  aid  in  the  very  work,  for 
which  ours  w^as  established  :  and  which  have  divided, 
with  us  the  constantly  increasing  patronage  of  the 
whole  Presbyterian  body,  to  their  greater  usefulness, 
and  without  any  serious  detriment  to  us. 

6.  From  other  christian  churches  too  we  have  had 
a  liberal  patronage  ;  and  the  warm  and  sincere  friend- 
ship towards  this  institution,  on  the  part  of  our 
friends  in  sister  churches,  shows,  that  the  confidence 
reposed  in  us,  has  not  been  abused ;  and  that  a  collat- 
eral object  in  founding  our  College  has  also  been  at>- 
tained. 

7.  The  State  too  has  manifested  its  confidence  in 
the  management   of  our  affairs,  not  only  by  not  at- 


24 

tempting  to  interfere  an itli  iis,  in  any  respect;  but 
by  passing  special  laws  for  our  protection ;  and  by 
a  public  declaration  in  regard  to  the  usefulness  of  the 
College,  in  promoting  both  piety  and  learning. 

In  making  this  remark,  I  have  reference  to  the 
language  employed  in  a  pi^amble  to  an  act  passed 
on  the  13th  of  March,  17S0,  by  the  Legislature  of 
New  Jersey,  for  amending  and  establishing  the  char- 
ter of  our  College. 

.  .  .  .  "  And  whereas  all  wise  Legislators  have 
deemed  the  education  of  youth  to  be  of  the  utmost 
importance  to  the  prosperity  of  the  State ;  and  have 
taken  institutions  of  learning  under  their  patronage 
and  protection :  and  whereas  the  said  College  of  New 
Jersey  hath  been  found  greatly  useful  in  diffusing 
as  well  the  principles  of  political  liherti/  as  of  religion 
and  literature :  and  many  have  thereby  been  fitted 
to  fill  distinguished  places  both  in  the  civil  and  ec- 
clesiastical departments  of  this  and  of  the  other 
United  States,  with  advantage  to  the  community, 
and  honour  and  reputation  to  themselves,  therefore 
for  granting  the  passage  of  the  petition  of  the  said 
Trustees,  be  it  enacted,  &c." 

8.  The  pure  doctrines  of  the  gospel,  and  the  true 
principles  of  civil  and  religious  liberty  have  always 
formed  a  part  of  the  instruction  given  here. 

9.  The  last  and  most  important  fact  of  all.  At  dif- 
ferent times,  God  has  most  graciously  manifested  his 
favour,  by  awakening  the  minds  of  the  youth  here  as- 


25 

sembled  to  a  serious  conviction  of  tlie  unspeakable  im- 
portance of  divine  tliin^is;  and  bv  ^ivin^^  lar<^e  num- 
bers of  tbeni  grace  to  become  true  and  devoted  ser- 
vants of  our  Lord  Ji^sus  Clirist.  The  very  first  year 
tbat  the  coiiene  Avas  establisiied  in  this  place,  under 
President  Burr,  there  was  a  signal  nuuiifestation  of 
the  divine  favour  in  t\w  respect  just  mentioned.  An- 
other instance  occurred  in  17()'2,  dui-ing  the  presi- 
dency of  Dr.  Finley,  and  anotiier  eipuilly  remarka- 
ble in  J  81 5,  while  Dr.  Green  was  President,  and  an- 
other quite  recently  in  1848.  Besides  those  just 
named,  there  have  been  others  of  less  note.  These 
should  (ner  be  ke])t  in  gratei\d  I'cmembrance  by  the 
friends  of  the  College,  and  be  an  encouragement  to 
pruy  earnestly  and  perse veringly  for  a  renew^al  of 
like  scenes.  In  the  year  1757,  the  Rev.  Samuel 
Davies  writing  to  a  friend  in  England  says,  ''  The 
best  new^s  that  perhaps  I  ever  heard  in  my  life,  I 
received  from  my  favourite  friend  Mr.  Samuel  Finley, 
minister  of  Nottingham,  in  Pennsylvania,  tutor  of  a 
large  academy,  and  one  of  the  Trustees  of  the  Col- 
lege of  New  Jersey.  1  had  sent  him  some  extracts 
from  my  British  letters,  giving  an  account  of  the 
revival  of  religion  in  sundry  parts  of  England,  jiar- 
ticularly  among  the  clergy."  In  answer  he  writes, 
"I  greatly  rejoice  that  our  Lord  .lesus  has  put  it  in 
my  power  to  make  you  a  large  compensation  for  the 
good  news  you  sent  me.     God  has  done  great  things 

for  us.     Our  glorious  Redeemer  poured  out  his  Holy 

4 


20 

Spirit  upon  the  students  of  our  college  ;  not  one  of 
all  present  neglected,  and  they  were  in  number  six- 
ty." At  the  close  of  his  letter  Mr.  Davies  remarks, 
"  Though  this  college  was  well  founded  and  well 
conducted,  yet  I  must  own,  I  was  often  afraid  it  was 
degenerating  into  a  college  of  mere  learning.  But 
now  my  fears  are  removed,  by  the  prospect  that  sin- 
cere piety,  that  grand  ministerial  qualification,  will 
make  equal  advance."  Mr.  Davies,  became  Presi- 
dent of  the  College  in  1759,  about  two  years  after 
this  letter;  and  Mr.  Finley  in  1761.  May  their 
successors  in  this  office  ever  resemble  them,  in  being 
ardent  friends  of  genuine  revivals  of  religion.  And 
beypnd  all  question,  the  frequent  outpouring  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  upon  the  youth  of  our  College  will  be 
the  best  guarantee,  that  it  Avill  never  become  a  Col- 
lege of  more  learning.  But  let  it  be  remembered, 
that  the  promotion  of  learning,  thorough,  sound  and 
varied,  is  one  of  the  great  objects  sought  to  be  attain- 
ed by  the  erection  of  this  institution  ;  and  by  learn- 
ing, I  do  not  mean  merely  literature,  but  all  such 
useful  knowledge  as  has  been  found  of  j^ervice  in  the 
culture  of  the  youthful  intellect.  It  would  be  an 
easy  task  to  show  that  the  two  objects  chiefly  aimed 
at  by  the  founders  of  our  College  are  perfectly  con- 
sistent :  and  that  they  should  ah\  ays  be  sought  for 
in  connexion,  whether  we  have  respect  chielly  to  our 
religious  or  to  our  intellectual  improvement.  Tlic 
more  thorough  and  extensive  knowledge  we  acquire 


of  the  lessons  taught  us  ill  the  word  and  worka  ut* 
God,  the  ♦greater  advances  we  shall  be  capable  of 
making  in  piety  :  and  to  the  full  attainment  of  such 
knowledge,  the  proper  discipline  of  the  intellectual 
faculties  is  absolutely  essential.  On  the  other  hand, 
nothing  can  be  more  favourable  to  the  vigorous  ap- 
plication of  the  mind  to  our  intellectual  pursuits, 
than  to  have  our  minds  at  peace  with  God,  and 
prompted  and  controlled,  in  all  their  acts,  by  supreme 
love  to  Plim.  The  celebrated  Francke  says  of  him- 
self, that  ^vhilc  a  youth  he  observed,  that  whenever 
he  became  remiss  in  his  devotions,  he  was  in  a 
measure  unfitted  for  close  and  earnest  study.  That 
it  is  the  duty  of  those,  to  whom,  in  the  providence 
of  God,  the  management  of  this  institution  is  now 
confided,  to  keep  in  view  the  design  of  its  founders, 
and  to  further  that  design  to  the  extent  of  their 
ability,  I  shall  assume  as  evident  upon  the  bare 
stating  of  the  proposition.  No  right  minded  man 
can  question  its  trutli.  1  shall  therefore  proceed  to 
unfold,  as  at  first  proposed,  the  mode  in  which  my 
colleagues  and  myself  intend  to  conduct  the  govern- 
ment and  the  instruction  of  the  Gollege,  with  the 
view  to  attain  the  end  which  it  will  be  our  pleasure, 
as  it  is  our  duty,  to  seek. 

We  shall  not  aim  at  innovations.  We  have  no 
fault  to  find  with  those  who  have  ])receded  us. 
They  are  deserving  of  all  honour  lor  what  they 
accomplished  :  but  with  the  increased  facilities  which 


28 

in  the  kind  providence  of  (lod  are  placed  within 
our  reach,  we  shall  seek  to  extend  and  other- 
wise to  improve  the  conrse  of  study  and  the  sys- 
tem of  instruction,  which  they  have  marked  out : 
with  such  changes  only  as  time  and  experience  sug- 
gest to  be  expedient.  1  shall  therefore  call  your  at- 
tention first  to  the  plan  hitherto  pursued,  as  it  will 
thus  be  the  more  readily  seen,  that  our  aim  is  sim- 
ply to  give,  if  possible,  greater  efficiency  to  this  plan, 
and  not  introduce  changes  for  the  sake  of  change. 
I  am  glad  to  have  it  in  my  power  to  say,  that  no 
chimerical  experiments  in  education  have  ever  had 
the  least  countenance  here.  The  methods  which 
have  been  employed  to  se  :ure  the  proper  cultivation 
of  both  head  and  heart  are  the  methods,  which  long 
experience  has  taught  to  be  the  most  efficient.  So 
far  as  it  concerns  the  head,  mental  discipline  has 
been  aimed  at  rather  than  the  storing  of  the  memory 
with  isolated  truths;  the  greater  the  number  of 
which,  the  greater  often  is  the  confusion ;  yet  the 
proper  exercise  of  memory  has  never  been  neglected. 
Nor  has  any  countenance  ever  been  given  to  the 
whim,  that  the  regular  and  systematic  teaching  of 
religious  truth  is  unfavourable  to  the  growth  of  pious 
feeling,  in  the  youthful  breast,  and  that  all  attend- 
ance upon  religious  services  should  be  entirely  vol- 
untary, and  never  re([uired ;  and  1  trust  such  no- 
tions as  these  will  never  find  a  lodgment  here. 
Had  we  no  experience  to  confirm    us   in   our   views, 


29 

the  precepts  of  revealed  trulli  on  this  jjoint  woulil 
be  sulFicieiit  to  «liow,  that  the  true  mode  of  trahi- 
ing  youth  to  fear  (lod  and  to  keep  liis  command- 
ments, is  to  do  as  God  himsell'  r(M|iiii('(l  his  covenant 
people  to  do.  '^  And  these  words  which  1  command 
thee  this  day  shall  be  in  thine  heart,  and  thou  shalt 
teach  them  diligently  unto  thy  children,  and  thou 
shalt  talk  of  them  when  thou  sittest  in  thine  house, 
and  when  thou  walkest  by  the  way,  and  when  thou 
liest  down,  and  when  thou  risest  up."  Surely  He 
who  formed  the  soul  of  man,  must  know  what  is 
the  best  method  of  fostering  in  that  soul  the  spirit  of 
piety. 

Nor  has  it  ever  been  the  aim  of  the  Trustees  and 
Faculty  of  this  College  to  make  the  College  a  collec- 
tion of  separate  schools  ;  and  to  permit  the  students 
here  congregated  to  determine  for  themselves  to  what 
branches  they  will  devote  their  time  and  attention, 
and  which  ones  they  will  neglect. 

Whatever  advantages  may  flow  from  such  a  sys- 
tem, they  are  not  the  precise  results  sought  to  be 
reached  by  the  establishment  of  colleges.  That 
even  for  certain  classes  of  under-graduates,  they 
may  answer  a  good  purpose  we  do  not  question, 
but  it  is  chietiy  for  that  class,  whose  pecuniary  re- 
sources, and  advanced  age  will  not  admit  of  their  pur- 
suing the  full  college  course  :  one  designed  to  em- 
brace an  outline  of  all  the  liberal  arts  and  sciences ; 
and  to  impart  that  variety  of  mental  discipline,  and 


30 

those  expanded  views  of  the  fields  of  literature  and 
science,  which  can  be  derived  in  no  other  way,  than 
by  the  actual  application  of  the  mind,  to  the  dif- 
ferent branches  of  study  included  in  what  is  gen- 
erally known  as  a  plan  of  liberal  education.  We 
do  not  hold  to  the  maxim  ascribed  to  Chrysippus, 
at  least  without  some  qualification,  "  that  the 
wise  man  is  the  best  artist  in  every  kind  of  work/' 
but  we  do  hold  with  the  Roman  Orator,  "  that 
there  is  a  common  bond  between  all  the  liberal 
arts,"  and  in  accordance  with  this  view,  we  maintain 
that  the  careful  study  and  thorough  mastery  of  the 
various  branches  of  knowledge,  so  far  at  least  as  to 
give  us  precise  ideas  of  their  nature  and  their  extent, 
afford  the  best  foundation  upon  wdiich  we  can  erect 
a  superstructure  of  ^professional  eminence.  This  range 
of  study  calls  into  exercise  all  the  powers  of  the 
mind,  in  the  oi»der  and  to  the  extent,  that  experi- 
ence has  shown  to  be  highly  favourable  to  the  unfold- 
ing of  those  powers,  and  to  giving  them  that  vigour, 
and  that  unity  of  action,  which  it  should  be  the  aim 
of  all  education  to  impart. 

In  adopting  a  system  of  instruction  ibr  colleges, 
we  should  have  respect  to  the  mass  of  those  Avhom 
we  seek  to  benefit,  and  we  vshould  so  order  the  course 
of  study  as  to  enable  them  all,  with  proper  eflbrt,  to 
attain  in  some  good  degree  the  end  sought  in  a  liberal 
education.  This  end  1  apprehend  to  be  full  prepa- 
ration, to  outer  with  advantage   upon   the   study  of 


one  of  the  liberal  prolessiuiis,  or  upon  an  extended 
and  thorough  inquiry  into  the  more  recondite  por- 
tions of  those  branches  of  knowledge,  the  elements 
of  which  had  sup[>lio(l  a  part  of  their  preparatory 
training.  Not,  that  ])ersoJis  who  may  be  designed 
for  other  vocations  than  those  just  mentioned,  may 
not  with  profit  submit  to  the  same  mental  discipline, 
but  that  the  plan  itself  should  be  arranged  with  spe- 
cial reference  to  the  wants  of  those  who  are  to  be 
devoted  to  the  culi  ivation  of  the  arts  and  sciences ; 
or  to  the  study  and  practice  of  the  learned  professions. 
It  has  been  asserted  by  a  distinguished  writer  on  edu- 
cation,* and  in  a  limited  sense  his  remark  may  be  true, 
that  in  a  school  or  college  for  the  pursuit  of  liberal  or 
general  knowledge,  the  student  may  be  considered 
as  an  end  unto  himself;  his  perfection  as  a  man 
simply  being  the  aim  of  his  education.  This  1  say 
in  a  limited  sense  may  be  true.  For  wdth  habits  of 
study  which  render  mental  eflbrt  his  delight,  and 
with  a  taste  acquired  for  the  perception  of  the  beau- 
tiful and  the  true  in  nature  and  in  art;  and  of  the 
useful  too  in  the  different  departments  of  knowledge, 
the  liberally  educated  youth  has  attained  a  degree 
of  perfection,  which  places  him  greatly  above  his 
equals  in  age,  who  have  made  no  such  attainments. 
And  he  is  in  possession  of  sources  of  pure  pleasure, 
from  which  he  may  draw  as  often  and  as  largely  as  he 
pleases,  provided  he  does  not  relax  hisefibrtto  increase 

*  Sir  William  Hamilton. 


32 

his  knowledge  and  to  improve  lii.s  mind.     Though  all 
this  be  conceded   to  those  who  maintain   that  the 
benefits  of  a  liberal  or  general  education  terminate 
upon  the  individual  himself,  and  have  their  end  in 
making  him  a  wiser,  better,  and  happier  man,  yet 
we  know  of  no  institutions  professedly  established 
with  this  as  their  ultimate  design ;  but  on  the  con- 
trary, they  all  have,  as  in  our  judgment  they  should 
have,  a  more  comprehensive  object,  and  one  bearing 
more    directly  and    fully   upon   the   welfare  of  the 
whole    commonwealth ;    and    that    is,    as    we    have 
already  said  in  other  vvords,  the  liberal  education  of 
youth,  with  a  view  to  the  advancement  of  learning 
in  all  the  various  departments  of  liberal  knowledge 
and  professional  life.     That  such  a  training  as  this, 
considered  as  a  means  to  an  end,  or  as  a  preparation 
for    a  higher  education,  is   superior  to  the  plan  of 
having   a  variety  of  independent  schools,  in  which 
the   attention  is  wholly  confined  to  matters  bearing 
upon  a  single  department  of  knowledge,  may  I  think 
be  safely  maintained.     And  although  our  limits  will 
not  permit  me  to  argue  this  question  at  large,  and 
my  object  being  to  point  out  what  we  propose  to  do 
rather  than  the  reasons  for  so  doing  ;  yet  1   ought 
perhaps  to  say  a  few  words  in  support  of  the  opinion 
just  avowed.     Not  to  insist  upon  the  fact  that  this 
method,  whether  the  best  or  not,  has  Ikhmi  (eminent- 
ly successful,  and  that  as  a  general  trutli  it  is  unde- 
niable, that  those  men  who  have  been  most  eminent 


38 

ill  the'  .several  iilieral  ])ri)lr.ssioii."^,  or  iiio.'^t  distinguisli- 
od  (IS  scholars  or  philosophers  have  liad  a  liberal 
preparatory  training,  prior  to  their  devoting  them- 
selves to  those  branches,  from  the  study  of  which 
they  have  derived  their  reputation.  I  may  mention 
as  one  reason  in  lavour  of  this  course,  that  where  the 
diflerent  studies  are  judiciously  arranged  and  proper- 
ly proportioned,  they  serve  to  call  into  harmonious 
action  all  the  intellectual  powers,  and  thus  give  a 
more  healthful  expansion  to  the  mind  than  it  can 
derive  from  any  other  source. 

A  second  reason  in  favour  of  this  course  is,  that  it 
serves  to  enlarge  the  views  of  the  liberally  educated, 
as  to  the  unbounded  field  for  research  that  lies 
before  them,  in  the  worlds  of  matter  and  of  mind ; 
and  thus  restrains  them  from  despising  the  attain- 
ments of  others,  from  the  full  conviction  that  their 
own  nmst  necessarily  be  limitecl  in  extent.  Thus 
modesty  is  engendered,  and  also  a  sympathy  with 
others  in  their  efforts  to  enlarge  the  boundaries  of 
knowledge  and  learning.  Thus  too  the  efforts  of  all  in 
behalf  of  learning  are  encouraged,  by  the  more  gene- 
ral appreciation  in  which  their  labours  are  held  by 
the  intelligent  portion  ol"  society,  whatever  be  the 
subjects  in  regard  to  which  that  intelligence  is  em- 
ployed. 

And  if  it  In'  maintained,  thai  the  advantages  here 
enumerated  would  result  from  freedom  of  intercourse 
and  friendly  ('()rrespoii(l<'n('e.  lietweeii  those  who  have 


34 

been  trained  in  separate  and  independent  schools ; 
the  ready  answer  is,  that  it  cannot  be  so  well  or  so 
readily  done  in  this  way  as  in  the  one  w^e  advocate. 
For  those  in  these  separate  and  independent  schools 
having  really  no  knowledge  of,  or  taste  for,  other 
pursuits  than  those  in  which  they  themselves  are 
engaged,  cannot  estimate  so  justly  as  they  should 
the  value  of  other  studies.  They  may  admit  the 
superiority  of  individual  men  in  other  walks  of 
life,  and  the  value  of  their  labours  to  society,  yet 
they  cannot  appreciate  them  as  they  would,  did  they 
know  something  personally  of  the  intense  mental 
effort  requisite  to  the  production  of  those  results, 
which  claim  and  receive  their  admiration. 

A  third  advantage,  which  a  system  of  liberal  or 
general  instruction  in  a  college  has  over  the  volun- 
tary method  pertaining  to  a  collection  of  independent 
schools,  consists  in  this,  that  better  provision  can 
be  made  for  occupying  the  whole  time  of  the  student, 
a  matter  of  prime  moment  in  the  early  discipline  of 
the  mind.  If  the  course  of  instruction  in  each  de- 
partment be  so  arranged  as  to  occupy  to  advantage 
the  whole  time  of  the  pupil,  then  it  is  evident,  that 
for  the  great  body  of  students  it  would  be  highly 
injurious  to  their  scholarship  and  mental  discipline, 
should  they  divide  their  time  between  the  different 
schools,  the  studies  in  each  requiring  the  time  and 
effort  Avhich  are  distributed  among  several.  Again, 
if  {])<'  Instruction  given  in  the  several  schools  should 


35 

not  rurnish  iiiiipK'  (niiployiiit'iit  ior  tlic  pu[)il,  and  it 
it  be  80  ordered  as  to  enable  him  to  attend  with  pro- 
fit upon  two,  three  or  more  schools  at  the  same  time, 
and  it  be  still  left  at  the  option  of  the  student  to 
pursue  one  or  more  branches  as  he  pleases,  it  is  evi- 
dent that  it  will  furnish,  to  a  large  proportion  ol* 
the  youth,  a  strong  temptation  to  neglect  any  and 
every  branch  of  learning  that  calls  for  vigorous  men- 
tal effort,  and  to  content  themselves  with  solving 
in  their  individual  cases,  the  proljlem,  in  what  way 
they  can  finish  their  college  course  with  the  least 
amount  of  labour,  and  therefore  with  the  least  amount 
of  knowledge.  A  temptation  strong  enough  where  the 
attendance  upon  the  whole  course  of  instruction  is 
required  of  each  individual.  It  is  admitted,  indeed, 
that  this  would  not  operate  unfavourably  upon  youth 
possessed  of  uncommon  quickness  of  parts  and  of  an 
ardent  thirst  for  knowledge ;  who  sometimes  are 
disposed  to  apply  themselves  too  closely  to  their 
studies.  But  this  is  not  characteristic  of  youth  in 
general,  and  it  is  necessary,  by  a  system  of  regular 
daily  instruction  and  examination,  to  accustom  them 
to  mental  effort,  until  by  constant  practice  the  habit 
be  formed,  and  mental  effort  itself  becomes  pleasant ; 
and  this  can  more  readily  be  done  upon  a  plan 
which  prescribes  a  common  course  for  all,  and  ex- 
acts a  regular  attendance  upon  that  course,  than  it 
can  by  leaving  it  to  the  option  of  the  student  to 
study  what  he  pleases. 


31) 

Jt  may  be  urged  tliat  joutli  will  ^tady  with  great- 
er diligence  things  in  which  they  take  an  interest, 
than  those  for  which  they  have  no  taste;  and 
though  this  is  doubtless  true,  yet  it  may  be  the  case, 
and  often  is,  that  the  course  of  reading  or  study  in 
which  they  take  most  delight  is  not  the  one  most 
necessary  for  their  improvement,  and  the  complete 
developement  of  their  minds.  For  often  the  very 
source  of  this  pleasure  is,  that  it  can  be  had  with 
little  or  no  exertion ;  and  when  it  is  otherwise,  their 
interest  in  these  particular  studies  which  prompt 
them  to  constant  effort,  not  unfrequently  indisposes 
them  for  other  studies  of  equal  moment  in  them- 
selves, and  of  equal  importance  to  the  student.  And 
it  is  assuming  rather  too  much  for  youth,  of  the  age 
of  those  who  enter  our  institutions  for  undergradu- 
ates, that  they  are  fully  prepared  to  judge  for  them- 
selves, not  only  as  to  what  is  the  most  agreeable 
to  them,  but  also  as  to  what  is  most  useful. 

For  these  and  other  reasons,  we  arc  disposed  to 
adhere  to  the  plan  hitherto  pursued  in  this  institu- 
tion ;  in  having  one  course  of  study  for  all  the  stu- 
dents, who  are  candidates  for  academic  honours  :  and 
in  requiring  attendance  upon  all  tlie  college  exercises. 
In  this  one  course,  we  shall  not  undertake  to  teach 
everything  included  under  the  heads  of  literature 
and  science.  But  to  those  matters,  which  have  been 
found  from  experience  to  ])e  the  most  useful,  in  the 
proper  cultivation  of  the  moral  and  intellectual  pow- 


37 

ers,  special  attention  will  ])v  y;[\'vn  :  and  in    this  list 
wc  include  Religion,  Natural  and  Revealed  -^Philoso- 
phy, Intellectual  and  Physical ;  Logic  and  Rhetoric  ; 
Mathematics,  pure  and  mixed  ;  tlic  CJrcek  and  Latin 
languages;  and  History,  Ancient  and  Modern,     hi 
this  list,  as  you  perceive,  we  liave   placed   first  the 
study  of  religion,  and  we  have  no  hesitation  in  say- 
ing, that  we  would  make  every  other  part  of  educa- 
tion suhordinate  to  this,  and  that  it  will  ])e  our  first 
aim  to  imbue  the  minds  of  our  youth  with  the  prin- 
ciples of  piety  and  virtue.     Considered  simply  as  a 
means  of  intellectual  improvement,  the  study  of  re- 
ligious truth  is  of  the  highest  importance.     Nothing 
can  contribute  more  to  the  expansion  of  the  mind  : 
and  to  the  perfect  culture  of  all  its  j^owers.     The 
grandest  thought  that  has  ever  entered  the  mind  of 
man  is  the  idea  of  God,  one,  eternal,  unchangeable, 
infinite  in  beiiig  and  perfection,  the  Almighty.     It 
is   the   highest  of  all  possible   generalizations,  im- 
measurably transcending  in  grandeur  the    idea  of 
the  material  universe,  vast  as  is  that.     This  alone 
would  be  a  sufficient  reason  for  assigning  to  the  study 
of  religious  truth,  the  prominence  here  given  U)  it. 
But  the  claims  of  this,  and  of  all  the  other  l^ranches 
of  knowledge  above  named,  to  be  regarded  of  prime 
importance  in  every  system  of  education,  I  need  not 
stop  to  argue.    If  experience  can  establish  anything  in 
the   matter   of  education,    it  has   shown   fully  the 
value  of  these  studies  in  the  discipline  of  the  mind, 


38 

and  wo  will  leave  it  to  others  to  Lletermiiie  their  re- 
lative vajuo  :  and  to  try  the  experiment  of  conduct- 
ing the  education  of  the  young,  with  the  entire  neg- 
lect of  any  one  of  them.  To  sundry  other  branches 
sufficient  attention  will  be  given,  to  impart  a  definite 
idea  of  the  matters  of  which  they  treat,  and  of  the  pro- 
per method  of  investigating  them.  Under  this  head  I 
might  mention  Ethnology,  Political  Economy,  Geol- 
ogy, Physical  Geography,  Zoology,  Botany,  Miner- 
alogy, Architecture,  Sculpture,  &c.  In  giving  in- 
struction in  the  various  departments  named,  we  shall 
endeavour  to  bear  in  mind,  that  art  should  precede 
science :  and  that  by  constant  practice  and  frequent 
repetition,  the  youthful  mind  should  first  be  trained 
to  expertness  in  performing  the  required  tasks :  and 
afterwards  be  taught  the  reasons  for  the  operations 
themselves.  To  reverse  this  order  would  be  to  do 
an  irreparable  injury,  to  those  upon  whom  this  exper- 
iment should  be  tried.  The  first  part  of  this  mental 
training  ought  to  be  the  chief  object  of  attention  in  the 
preparatory  schools  ;  the  second  part  is  the  one  which 
more  appropriately  pertains  to  the  College.  In  the 
school,  a  youth  engaged  in  the  study  of  language 
should  acquire  a  thorough  and  exact  knowledge  of 
the  import  of  words,  and  of  the  rules  of  grammar  : 
and  he  should  accustom  himself  to  apply  these  rules 
carefully  in  translating  from  one  language  into  an- 
other, and  in  learning  to  compose  in  his  own  and  in 
other  tongues.     At  College,  while  this  practice  should 


:J0 

be  continued,  the  student  should  enter  upon  the 
higher  study  of  the  philosophy  of  language ;  and  upon 
a  critical  examination  of  the  style  and  sentiments  of 
the  various  classical  authors,  whose  works  are  subjects 
of  study  :  and  he  should  also  carefully  observe  the 
illustrations  they  afford  of  each  other's  thoughts  and 
forms  of  expression.  In  History,  an  accurate  know- 
ledge of  facts  should  be  the  first  aim  of  the  student, 
and  after  that,  the  study  of  the  general  principles,  as 
far  as  History  has  assumed  a  philosophical  form. 
So  also  in  Mathematics,  the  solution  of  problems  ac- 
cording to  prescribed  rules  or  formulas  should  first 
claim  attention  ;  and  then  with  far  greater  ease  will 
the  youthful  student  be  made  to  understand  the  ra- 
tionale of  the  formulas  themselves. 

With  respect  to  Natural  Philosophy  and  other  sci- 
entific subjects.  After  the  student  has  learned  the 
general  principles ;  and  the  use  to  be  made  of  them 
in  the  deduction  of  particular  facts ;  he  should  be 
taught  the  proper  method  of  philosophical  investiga- 
tion, and  the  steps  by  which  the  higher  generaliza- 
tions have  been  reached. 

A  distinguished  and  learned  friend,  to  whom  I  am 
indebted  for  some  of  the  above  hints,  remarks  :  "  As 
one  great  object  in  life  is  the  acquisition  of  truth 
and  its  relations ;  the  logical  powers  ought  to  be  fully 
developed  :  and  this  is  eftected  by  exercising  the  stu- 
dent in  deducing  particular  facts  from  general  laws. 
In  all  cases,  as  far  as  possible,  he  should  be  shown 


40 

how  the  deductions  from  tlicse  laws  agree  with  the 
actual  facts  of  nature.  This  will  give  him  full  con- 
fidence in  the  truth  and  importance  of  generaliza- 
tions, and  serve  to  render  him  a  safe  man,  one  who, 
after  having  deliberately  investigated  a  subject,  will 
settle  down  on  some  general  principles^,  and  will  not 
be  liable  to  be  moved  by  every  new^  wind  of  doctrine." 

"  Of  whatever  is  attempted  to  be  taught  clear  ideas 
should  be  given,  and  those  branches  of  knowledge 
should  especially  be  cultivated  in  the  last  years  of  a 
college  course,  which  have  been  reduced  to  the  most 
definite  rules."  Of  the  truth  of  these  remarks,  no 
experienced  teacher,  1  think,  can  have  any  doubt. 

Lectures  accompanied  with  experiments,  or  other 
illustrations,  where  the  subject  calls  for  them  ;  text 
books,  with  comments  by  the  teacher,  and  frequent 
examinations,  both  oral  and  written,  will  continue  to 
be  parts  of  our  system  of  instruction.  These  different 
methods  have  their  several  advantages,  and  by  com- 
bining them,  we  hope  to  accomplish  everything  de- 
sirable as  to  the  imparting  of  knowledge.  To  secure 
strict  attention  and  greater  diligence,  upon  the  part 
of  the  student,  we  shall  continue  the  i^lan  of  subdi- 
viding the  different  classes  ;  that  as  far  as  possible 
each  student  may  ])e  called  upon  every  day  to  under- 
go an  examination,  upon  the  subject  of  study  for  the 
day. 

And  although  this  method  adds  mateiMully  to  the 
burden  of  the  Professors,  the}    will   submit  to  it  in 


41 

view  of  its  givat  iuiportaiico  to  the  student.  In  no 
other  way  can  regular  daily  preparation  on  the  part 
of  the  student  to  recite  tlie  prescribed  lesson  be  had. 
Class  honours  and  rewards  of  various  kinds  may  be 
given  as  a  stimulus  tj  diligent  and  laithiul  attention 
to  study  ;  and  to  a  certain  extent  they  answer  a 
most  valuable  purpose  ;  still  they  will  not  be  sufTi- 
cient,  except  in  rare  cases,  to  elfect  iuUy  the  end 
aimed  at  in  bestowing  them,  if  there  be  not  also  fre- 
quent examination  of  the  individual  members  of  the 
class.  For  daily  mental  (iffort  of  the  highest  order 
they  need  the  stimulus  furnished  by  daily  examin- 
ation. Nothing  can  supply  the  want  of  it.  And  to 
have  it,  the  number  of  teachers  must  correspond  to 
the  number  of  students.  It  is  simplj-  absurd  to  im- 
agine that  a  single  professor  can  instruct  well  any 
number  of  pupils,  however  large  that  number  may 
be.  And  one  of  the  reasons  why,  in  seeking  a  i)ar- 
tial  endowment  for  our  college,  we  prefer  to  have 
the  greater  portion  of  that  endowment  in  form  of 
scholarships  rather  than  of  professorships,  is  that  we 
can  the  more  readily  retain  the  present  charges  for 
tuition,  and  thus  enable  the  college  to  maintain  a 
corps  of  professors  and  tutors  in  just  [)r()[)()rti()n  to 
the  students.  If  the  students  increase  in  number,  so 
will  their  teachers;  and  we  shall  keep  u[)  in  full 
vigour  our  ])lan  of  frequent  examinations.  If  the 
instruction  be  confined  to  the  delivery  ol'  lectures,  it 
matters  not  in(leed  liow  many  may  be  present,  pro- 


42 

vided  the  lecturer  has  the  power  to  interest  them  in 
the  subject,  and  to  awaken  a  feeling  kindred  to  his 
own  in  regard  to  the  importance  of  his  discussions. 
But  in  order  that  the  best  lectures  may  be  of  real 
service  in  the  education  of  the  young,  it  is  important 
that  there  should  be  previously  had  from  some 
source  clear  and  distinct  ideas  of  the  matters 
handled;  and  it  is  essential  that  the  student  should 
have  been  taught  the  habit  of  giving  close  and  fixed 
attention  to  what  is  said,  and  of  discriminating  be- 
tween the  thought  itself,  and  the  form  in  which  the 
thought  is  presented ;  so  as  the  more  readily  to 
seize  upon  the  prominent  points,  and  their  relations 
to  each  other.  In  what  w^ay  can  all  this  be  done  so 
effectually  as  by  daily  examination  upon  text-books 
caroluUy  explained  by  the  teacher,  and  diligently 
studied  by  the  student ;  and  yet  this  cannot  be  done, 
unless  the  provision  for  imparting  instruction  be  in 
full  proportion  to  the  numbers  taught.  Of  all  the 
methods  of  giving  instruction,  this  for  the  great 
body  of  the  students  is  beyond  question  the  most 
important ;  and  although  without  it  a  small  number 
of  ripe  scholars  may  ])c  formed,  it  will  be  at  the  sac- 
rifice of  the  highest  interests  of  their  companions  in 
study.  The  value  of  daily  examinations  upon  both 
text-books  and  lectures  cannot  well  be  over  esti- 
mated ;  yet  their  value  as  an  incentive  to  diligent 
study  will  !)('  greatly  increased,  if  they  be  viewed  as 
preparatory  to  the  more  extended  and  formal  exam- 


iiiiitions,  whicli  iire  to  )x*  the  rliiel'  element  in  deter- 
mining the  rohitive  position  of  the  students  in  their 
several  classes,  and  the  rewards  to  be  awarded  to 
the  superior  vscholars. 

"  No  academical  exercise,"  says  Melancthon,  as 
cited  by  Sir  William  Hamilton,  "  can  be  more  useful 
than  that  of  examination.  It  whets  the  desire  of 
learning,  it  enhances  the  solicitude  of  study,  while 
it  animates  the  attention  to  w^hatever  is  taught. 
Every  student  ivS  alarmed,  lest  aught  should  escape 
him  which  it  behooves  him  to  observe.  This  anxiety 
incites  him  also  to  canvass  everything  with  accuracy, 
knowing  that  he  must  fully  and  perspicuously  ex- 
plain his  understanding  of  each  several  doctrine. 
Examination,  likewise,  fosters  facility  of  expression, 
counteracts  perturbation  and  confusion,  inures  to 
coolness  and  promptitude  of  thought.  Not  less  use- 
ful is  examination  in  restraining  the  course  of  juve- 
nile study  within  legitimate  boundaries.  Nothing 
is  more  hurtful,  as  nothing  is  more  common,  than 
vain  and  tumultuary  reading,  which  inflates  with 
the  persuasion,  Avithout  conferring  the  reality,  of  eru- 
dition. Wherefore,  if  examinatiou  brought  no  other 
advantage  than  that  it  counteracts  the  two  greatest 
pests  of  education  found  indeed  usually  combined, 
sloth,  to  wit,  and  arrogance  ;  for  this  reason  alone 
should  examination  be  cherished  in  our  universities. 
Against  sloth  there  is  no  goad  sharper  or  more  effi- 
cacious than  examination  :  and  as  to  arrogance,   ex- 


44 

amination  is  the   very   school   of  hiimilitv   and  im- 
provement.    By  no  other  discipline  is  a  soaring  con- 
ceit so  effectually  taken  down  :  and  this  is  the  rea- 
son, why  self  satisfied  pretenders  ever  fly  examina- 
tion :  while  others  who  think  less  of  the  little  they 
know,  than  of  the  much  that  they  know  not,  resort 
to  it  as  the  most  efficacious  means  of  improvement.'* 
These  remarks  of  a  famous  scholar  and  divine,   are 
all  true,  and  of  great  weight :  and  they  set  in  a  clear 
and  strong  light  the  importance  of  frequent  exami- 
nation, in  the  education  of  youth.     But  still  they 
speak  only  of  its  direct  effects  upon  the  student  him- 
self.    To  the  no  less  important  influence  exerted  by- 
it,  in  awakening  the  energies  of  the  teacher,  and  thus 
by  a  reflex  action  upon  the  mind  of  the  scholar  giv- 
ing to  that  mind  increased  activity,  they  do  not  refer. 
Yet  in  estimating  the  value  of  examinations  as  a  part 
of  a  college  course  of  instruction,  the  effect  upon  the 
mind  of  the  teacher :  and  its  reflex  influence   upon 
the  pupil  ought  to  be  kept  distinctly  in  view.     Un- 
less we  do,  their  full  value,  in  educating  the  youth- 
ful mind  to  think  with  vigour,   and  to  express  its 
thoughts  with  ease,  ran  never  be  appreciated  as  it 
should. 

In  our  examinations  we  shall  continue  to  use  both 
methods,  the  oral  and  the  written,  being  satisfied 
from  an  ample  trial,  that  in  this  way  the  student 
will  derive  advantages  which  he  cannot  have  from 
either  alone. 


4r, 

Declamation  and  wiiltcn  e(jmpo.<itiun  will  t'orni  as 
hitherto  parts  of  our  (^olle^^e  exercises.  And  al- 
though they  may  be  so  conducted  as  to  do  harm  : 
yet  rightly  attended  to  they  cannot  fail  to  be 
of  service  to  the  student.  The  art  of  expressing 
thought  with  propriety  and  elegance  is  best  acquired 
by  committing  our  thoughts  to  writing;  and  the 
practice  of  declaiming  contributes  to  presence  of  mind, 
gracefulness  of  manner,  and  propriety  of  utterance. 

We  shall  also  avail  ourselves,  wherever  practica- 
ble, of  the  help  of  drawings,  models,  outline  maps, 
and  other  implements  of  instruction,  for  the  sake  of 
the  impression  made  by  them  on  the  eye  ;  and  for 
the  sake  of  the  suggestions  of  an  abstruse  character 
of  which,  from  an  association  of  ideas,  they  are  often 
the  source. 

As  it  regards  the  improvement  of  our  course  of 
study  we  hope  for  much,  in  the  liberality  of  our 
friends  who  are  so  generously  contributing  to  the 
endowment  of  scholarships:  the  income  of  which 
for  the  most  part  is  to  be  given  to  those  students, 
who  at  the  time  of  entering  college  shall  upon  exam- 
ination,  be  found  to  be  the  best  prepared.  The 
advantages  arising  from  this  source,  will  not  be  lim- 
ited to  the  College ;  but  will  be  shared  by  it  and  the 
schools,  from  which  we  receive  our  students.  With 
respect  to  the  schools,  we  trust  the  effect,  will  be,  to 
make  the  pupils  in  them  more  concerned  as  to  the 


40 

degree  of  their  preparation  for  admission  into  College, 
than  they  are  as  to  the  time  when  they  will  be  per- 
mitted to  enter  :  and  that  they  will  willingly  remain 
at  school,  until  they  are  fully  prepared  for  the  class 
into  which  they  seek  admission.  If  this  point  can 
be  secured,  it  will  be  a  great  relief  to  the  teachers, 
and  a  great  gain  to  the  scholars.  The. teachers  will 
be  more  free  from  the  annoying  solicitations,  to  which 
they  are  oft^n  exposed,  both  from  the  pupils  and 
their  parents,  to  pass  over  in  a  hurried  manner  a 
part  of  the  usual  preparatory  course ;  and  the  schol- 
ars will  do  themselves  and  their  schools  greater 
credit,  and  be  the  better  prepared  to  profit  by  the 
instructions  they  are  to  receive  at  College. 

Should  the  proposed  endowment  be  completed,  the 
College  will  gain  several  ways. 

1.  We  shall  be  able  gradually  to  increase  the  de- 
mands for  admission  into  College. 

2.  We  shall  secure  a  more  thorough  preparation 
on  the  part  of  all  who  enter. 

3.  It  will  be  in  our  power  to  give  them  when  ad- 
mitted a  more  complete  course  of  instruction. 

4.  They  will  be  able  to  accomplish  more,  both  in 
the  acquisition  of  knowledge  and  in  the  discipline  of 
their  minds,  than  would  be  possible,   without  this 
better  preparatory  training. 

5.  We  hope  as  another  result,  that  a  larger  number 
than  heretofore  will  prefer  to  enter  College,  so  as  to 
spend  here  the  whole  four  years  allotted  to  our 
course  of  study. 


Every  teacher  of  experience  knows  the  great  ad- 
vantage of  having  in  every  class,  large  or  small,  one 
or  more  youth  of  superior  talent  and  accurate  schol- 
arship. It  serves  to  elevate  the  views  and  aims  of 
the  others,  and  to  stimulate  them  to  greater  dili- 
gence. If  then  as  one  of  the  fruits  of  the  effort  now 
making  to  endow  our  institution,  we  can  have,  at 
the  beginning  of  each  college  year,  to  enter  our 
Freshman  class,  twenty-live  youth  thoroughly  pre- 
pared for  that  class ;  the  benefits  of  such  a  state  of 
things  upon  the  scholarship  of  the  whole  institution 
would  be  incalculably  great,  and  our  generous  friends 
will  have  good  reason  to  congratulate  themselves 
upon  their  share  in  so  noble  a  work. 

For  several  years  past,  our  College  has  aided  from 
thirty  to  forty  youth  of  promise ;  most  of  them  of 
pious,  and  not  a  few  of  them  sons  of  clergymen,  in 
obtaining  their  education,  and  with  our  increase  of 
means,  we  shall  confidently  expect  to  increase  the 
number  of  both  these  classes  of  students :  viz.  pious 
but  indigent  youth  designed  for  the  ministry,  and 
sons  of  clergymen  in  moderate  circumstances.  And 
we  shall  be  glad  to  have  it  in  our  power  to  say  that  no 
meritorious  youth,  ])ossossing  talent  and  desirous  to 
enter  our  College,  whether  designed  for  the  ministry 
or  not,  shall  be  kept  away  for  want  of  funds  to  pay 
his  tuition  fees. 

If  the  proposed  endowment  be  secured,  the  Trus- 
tees will  have  it  in  their  power  to  add  to  the  num- 


48 

ber  and  efficiency  of  our  Faculty  ;  not  only  by  placing 
upon  a  permanent  footing  the  new  Professorships 
already  projected,  or  rather  already  established : — one 
to  be  held,  as  we  hope,  by  our  former  Professor  of 
Natural  Philosophy,  the  distinguished  Secretary  of 
the  Smithsonian  Institution ;  another  by  the  learned 
gentleman,  who  has  just  been  chosen  Professor  of 
Geology  and  Physical  Geography  ;  and  a  third  by 
the  able  divine  just  called  to  the  chair  of  Mental  and 
Moral  Philosophy  :  but  from  the  probable  increase 
in  the  number  of  students,  and  a  corresponding  in- 
crease of  funds,  they  will  be  able  to  establish  other 
professorships,  which  would  add  greatly  to  the  value 
and  efficiency  of  our  course  of  instruction. 

On  the  subject  of  discipline,  I  must  say  a  few 
words,  and  yet  in  regard  to  it  we  have  nothing  new 
to  promise.  To  secure  diligence  in  study,  regular 
and  prompt  attendance  upon  all  college  exercises ; 
and  proper  demeanour  on  the  part  of  every  student, 
is  the  more  immediate  aim  of  our  college  laws.  To 
return  the  youth  to  their  parents,  with  their  heads, 
hearts  and  manners  all  improved  is  the  ultimate  aim. 
The  benefits  to  result  from  a  successful  administra- 
tion of  these  laws,  must  be  obvious  to  all.  and  need 
no  illustration. 

Nothing  degrading  to  an  ingenuous  youth,  nothing 
but  what  every  such  youth  should  willingly  do,  has 
ever  been  demanded   by  our  laws,   and   nothing  of 


49 

this  kind  will  ever  be  required  of  any  student.  But 
it  will  be  expected  of  every  one,  that  he  will  make 
the  rules  of  the  institution,  and  not  his  own  opinions, 
or  those  of  his  fellow  students,  his  rule  of  conduct, 
in  matters  pertaining  to  the  College.  And  we  are 
persuaded  that  no  student  can  so  readily  render  his 
residence  at  College  a  truly  pleasant  one,  as  by  a 
strict  compliance  with  all  its  rules.  To  see  that  they 
are  properly  heeded  is  the  duty  of  the  College  ofl^i- 
cer,  and  not  unfrequently  the  most  disagreeable  part 
of  that  dut}^  And  here  rather  than  in  anything 
else  should  he  have  the  co-operation  of  the  pareiits,*and 
for  this  reason  our  plan  has  been,  and  will  continue 
to  be,  to  send  home  regular  quarterly  reports  of  the 
standing  of  each  student  ;  and  occasionally  special 
ones,  if  anything  seems  to  require  it. 

In  conducting  the  discipline  of  the  College,  it  will 
be  our  aim  to  encourage  the  doing  of  what  is  right ; 
and,  by  a  careful  oversight,  to  prevent  violations  of 
law  and  order,  rather  than  to  detect  and  punish  for 
wrong-doing  :  and  the  motives,  which  we  shall  urge, 
will  be  those  which  have  respect  to  duty,  and  not 
merely  to  expediency  and  interest.  We  have  never 
given,  and  it  is  our  purpose  not  to  give  any  coun- 
tenance to  an  espial-sy&tem  :  and  yet  to  prevent  if 
possible  any  from  going  astray,  and  to  understand 
fully  the  character  and  conduct  of  each  individual, 
we  shall  be  not  inattentive  observers  of  their  deport- 
ment and  their  associations. 


50 

We  shall  encourage  freedom  of  approach  upon  the 
part  of  our  pupils,  and  shall  endeavour  to  make  them 
feel  that  they  and  their  teachers  have  not  antago- 
nistic interests,  but  that  we  really  seek  their  good, 
and  that  they  may  safely  confide  in  us  in  all  mat- 
ters pertaining  to  themselves ;  and  that  while  we 
require  of  them  strict  attention  to  college  orders, 
we  are  willing  to  grant  them  every  reasonable  in- 
dulgence, and  to  aid  them  in  any  of  their  difficulties 
to  the  extent  of  our  ability.  And  even  in  cases 
where  we  are  constrained  to  exercise  severe  disci- 
pline, we  shall  seek  to  do  it  in  the  way  that  will  be 
least  trying  to  their  own  feelings  and  to  those  of 
their  friends. 

Not  being  angels  ourselves,  we  shall  not  expect 
our  pupils  to  be  angels,  nor  shall  we  expect  them  to 
have  all  the  discretion  of  old  men  of  mature  minds  ; 
and  we  shall  make  all  proper  allowance  for  the 
greater  buoyancy  of  spirits  in  youth,  and  for  mere 
indiscretions  of  conduct.  But,  on  the  other  hand, 
all  determined  disregard  of  order  and  of  propriety 
of  deportment,  and  all  resolute  opposition  to  author- 
ity will  be  dealt  with  as  they  deserve ;  and  it  will 
be  our  aim  to  merit  the  praise  bestowed  upon  Presi_ 
dent  Burr,  of  whom  it  is  said  :  "  Though  in  judg. 
meat  and  temper  inclined  to  mild  measures,  when 
these  failed  he  would  resort  to  a  necessary  severity ; 
and  no  connexions  could  prevent  the  equal  distribu- 


tioii  of  justice.  In  no  college  were  the  students 
more  narrowly  inspected  and  prudently  guarded,  or 
vice  of  every  kind  more  efiectually  searched  out  and 
discountenanced  or  suppressed." 

As  it  is  not  the  design  ol  our  college  to  furnish  a 
retreat  for  the  indolent,  nor  a  harbour  for  the  vicious, 
we  shall  rigidly  require  of  all,  who  may  seek  admis- 
sion into  college,  that  they  produce  from  their  teach- 
ers, or  other  reputable  ])ersons,  testimonials  of  good 
moral  charactei . 

1  have  now  given  you  (jur  plan  for  the  future  gov- 
ernment and  instruction  of  the  college  ;  or  perhaps 
to  speak  with  more  exactness,  an  outline  of  the  plan 
hitherto  pursued,  with  some  modifications  suggested 
by  time  and  experience.  We  trust  that  it  will  meet 
your  approval,  and  that  we  shall  have  3^our  counte- 
nance in  our  eflbrts  to  give  it  increased  efficiency. 
Of  all  interested  in  the  welftire  and  usefulness  of  our 
college,  we  earnestly  ask  their  fervent  prayers,  that 
the  blessing  of  God  may  ever  accompany  the  in- 
structions here  given,  and  that  our  college  may  ever 
])n>\e  what  its  pious  founders  desired  and  prayed  it 
should  ])e — an  institution  for  the  promotion  of  sound 
IcnriiiuLi  and  true  piety. 


Havnig  linished  his  address.  Dr.  Maclean  said  it 
was  truly  gratifying  to  him  and  would  do  doubt  give 


52 

pleasure  to  all  present ;  that  his  first  otiieiai  act  as 
President  of  the  College,  was  to  announce  to  the  au- 
dience thatj  by  a  unanimou^^  vote,  the  Trustees  had 
conferred  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws,  upon  the 
late  venerable  President  of  the  College,  Dr.  James 
Carnahan. 

The  exercises  were  then  concluded  with  prayer 
and  the  benediction,  l)y  the  Rev.  Dr.  W.  W.  Phillips, 
of  New  York. 


